HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding the "shared epitope" are associated with susceptibility to developing rheumatoid arthritis whereas HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding an aspartic acid at position 70 of the beta-chain are protective in Mexican Mestizos.

The risk to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with the presence of HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding the "shared epitope" (SE). Additionally, HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding an aspartic acid at position 70 (D70+ ) have been associated with protection against the development of RA. In this study we tested the association between either SE or D70+ and rheumatoid arthritis in Mexican Mestizos.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (ACE) insertion/deletion polymorphism in Mexican populations.

The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (ACE) insertion/deletion polymorphism was determined in 211 Mexican healthy individuals belonging to different Mexican ethnic groups (98 Mestizos, 64 Teenek, and 49 Nahuas). ACE polymorphism differed among Mexicans with a high frequency of the D allele and the D/D genotype in Mexican Mestizos. The D/D genotype was absent in Teenek and present in only one Nahua individual (2.

The dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in the 3'UTR of the CD154 gene has a functional role on protein expression and is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To investigate the association of the (CA)n dinucleotide repeat in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of the CD154 gene with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and its functional role in protein expression.

Methods: The allelic and genotypic distributions of the polymorphism were compared in 80 patients with SLE and 80 controls. A complete clinical and analytical database was recorded in each patient in order to correlate the clinical manifestations in SLE with different alleles.

MHC class II alleles in Mexican patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an autoimmune sequel of group A streptococcal infection that has been associated with the presence of some major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role of class II alleles in the genetic susceptibility to RHD in Mexican patients and establish the relationship of these alleles with the pattern of valve damage.

Methods: HLA-DR, -DQA1 and -DQB1 allele frequencies were determined by PCR-SSO reverse dot blot and PCR-SSP in 98 Mexican Mestizo patients with RHD and 99 healthy controls.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma2-Pro12Ala and endothelial nitric oxide synthase-4a/bgene polymorphisms are associated with essential hypertension.

Objective: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma2 (PPARgamma2) belongs to the family of the nuclear hormone receptors and has been recently implicated in vascular biology. PPARgamma2(Pro12Ala) gene polymorphism is associated with obesity, body mass index and diabetes mellitus. The endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) (4a/b) gene polymorphism contributes to coronary heart disease and hypertension risk.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha promoter polymorphisms in Mexican patients with rheumatic heart disease.

The major histocompatibility genes (MHC) have been associated with the genetic susceptibility to rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Results have been inconsistent and new genes located on the MHC region such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) need to be analyzed. TNF-alpha polymorphisms (positions -238 and -308) were determined in 87 RHD Mexican Mestizo patients and 101 healthy controls.

The effect of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T common variant on hypertensive risk is not solely explained by increased plasma homocysteine values.

The C677T transition of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene causes a moderate increase in total plasma homocysteine (tHcy). We studied the effect of MTHFR TT homozygosity and mild hyperhomocysteinemia on arterial hypertension. Normotensive controls (n = 223) and hypertensive subjects (n = 235) were matched for age, gender, and history of cardiovascular disease.

Mannose binding lectin polymorphisms as a disease-modulating factor in women with systemic lupus erythematosus from Canary Islands, Spain.

Objective: To determine whether mannose binding lectin (MBL) polymorphisms are associated with clinical characteristics and with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in women from the Canary Islands, Spain.

Methods: MBL alleles and genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction in 89 female patients and 188 female controls.

Results: No differences in the allelic or genotypic frequencies were observed between patients and controls.

Distribution of HLA-B alleles in Mexican Amerindian populations.

In the present study we analyzed by PCR-SSO technique the HLA-B gene frequencies in 281 healthy individuals from four Mexican Amerindian populations (66 Mayos, 90 Mazatecans, 72 Nahuas and 53 Teenek). The most frequent alleles in all studied populations were HLA-B35, HLA-B39, and HLA-B40; however, some differences were observed between populations. The HLA-B35 allele was the most frequent in three of the four populations studied (Mayos, Nahuas and Teenek), whereas in Mazatecans the most frequent allele was HLA-B39.

Renin expression in hematological malignancies and its role in the regulation of hematopoiesis.

It has been demonstrated that some myeloid blasts express renin, but normal bone marrow (BM) does not display this expression. The aim of the present work was to analyze the renin expression in different hematological malignancies and different myeloid cell lines. We investigated the expression of renin by RT-PCR in BM from patients with hematological malignancies (106 patients), in nine normal BM from healthy donors and in leukemic cell lines (K562, KU812, MEG-01, U-937 and HL60), as well in K562 cell line subjected to differentiation treatments.

Clinical and genetic heterogeneity in Mexican patients with ulcerative colitis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology. Genetic factors implied on its onset and severity may include genes located within the class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1 alleles with the clinical disease patterns of UC in Mexican Mestizo patients.

[Genes and kidney disease. Candidate genes].

Molecular biology techniques have provided important advances in the search for causal relationships in complex diseases supporting traditional epidemiologic studies. Genetic epidemiology allows us to detect genetic variants that could be related to the onset and progression of different diseases. In cardiovascular and renal diseases, this approach linking traditional risk factors to new described ones and those allelic variants, which contribute to the development of these manifestations permits a better understanding of individual disease susceptibility.

[The involvement of the renin-angiotensin system gene polymorphisms in coronary heart disease].

Introduction And Objectives: Previous studies angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism ACE (I/D), angiotensinogen gene polymorphism, and angiotensin II AT1 receptor polymorphism in relation to coronary heart disease controversial results. This study was designed to analyze the association between these gene polymorphisms and the first coronary event in individuals residing on Grand Canary Island, Spain.

Patients And Method: Case-control study.

Distribution of class I and class III MHC antigens in the Tarasco Amerindians.

Class I and class III major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen frequencies were analyzed in 130 haplotypes from 33 families belonging to a group of Amerindians culturally and linguistically isolated for more than 12 centuries in Mexico: the Tarascos. The most frequent antigens in this ethnic group of the HLA-A locus are: A2 (gf 0.353), A24 (gf = 0.

[The effect of trandolapril, in monotherapy and associated with verapamil, on arterial pressure, albuminuria, and metabolic control in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria].

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the ACE-1, Trandolapril, alone or with Verapamil on blood pressure, albuminuria and metabolic profile in type 2 diabetic patients with hypertension and albuminuria. It was an open multicenter, consecutive and prospective study conducted in 281 patients. There was a four-week wash-out period of antihypertensive drugs, after which we carried out a measurement over a 24-h period of the urinary excretion of albumina (UEA).

Effect of two antihypertensive combinations on metabolic control in type-2 diabetic hypertensive patients with albuminuria: a randomised, double-blind study.

The objective of this study was to compare, at equal blood pressure (BP) reduction, the effect of two different combinations on metabolic control and albuminuria in type 2 diabetic hypertensive patients with albuminuria. This was a prospective, randomised, double-blind, parallel, controlled trial carried out in 11 Spanish hospitals. A total of 103 type 2 diabetic patients with stable albuminuria and BP not controlled on monotherapy were randomised of which 93 finished the study.

Association of angiotensinogen M235T and A(-6)G gene polymorphisms with coronary heart disease with independence of essential hypertension: the PROCAGENE study. Prospective Cardiac Gene.

Objectives: We examined the relationship between the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene M235T polymorphism, the variant promoter of the AGT gene A(-6)G and the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and coronary heart disease (CHD) in native Gran Canaria Island habitants, who have the highest rates of CHD in Spain.

Background: Some studies subject that the ACE (I/D) polymorphism could be associated with CHD, while AGT (M235T) has been related to essential hypertension.

Methods: We studied 304 subjects with angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease and a clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction or unstable angina and 315 age- and gender-matched controls.

[Effects of carvedilol in rats with induced chronic kidney failure].

Hypertensive mechanisms are postulated to play a major role in the progressive glomerulosclerosis (GS) after renal mass reduction. Previous studies have demonstrated differences in the progression to glomerulosclerosis with the use of different antihypertensive drugs. We analyzed whether the use of carvedilol (CVD), a new beta-adrenoceptor antagonist and vasodilator slows the progression of glomerulosclerosis in 5/6 nephrectomised (Nx) rats.